260 The Farm on the Flats. 



[May, 



about as flat as a pancake. I suppose the sheep thought it was 

 down on purpose for them to go in and eat wheat." 

 "Whose fence is it?" 



"Mine, and we had better go and put it up now." 

 While Mr. Elliot and his hired man are putting up the fence 

 which had taken the fancy to assume the shape of a pancake, thus 

 leading innocent slmep into acts of trespass, we will give some 

 account of the farm on the flats, which had recently become the 

 property of Mr. Lord of New York. 



The farm consisted of about one hundred and fifty acres, about 

 one-half of which consisted of level land, free from stone. The re- 

 mainder lay on a hillside sloping towards the south. Forty acres 

 of flats in a hilly and stony country, was a remarkable thing, and 

 caused the farm on the flats to be regarded as the most valuable 

 one in the region. It was first appropriated by a Dutchman, 

 shortly after the Revolution, and remained in the family for two 

 generations, when it was sold to pay debts accumulated by means 

 of strong drink. The sale was by public auction. The farm was 

 bid off by Mr. Simpkins, a Yankee, whose chief business consisted 

 in attending sheriff and constables' sales, bidding off" property to 

 be sold at an advanced price. Some thought that on such occa- 

 sions, it often snowed, hailed, or rained, for his especial benefit — 

 certain it is, that great bargains were often made by him on such 

 occasions. Simpkins had sold the farm to Mr. Loi'd of New York, 

 who had failed as a merchant, not without making enough, how- 

 ever, to buy a farm. The admirable bankrupt law having re- 

 moved all obstaces in the way of his buying one, he had accor- 

 dingly made choice of the one of which Mr. Simpkins held a she- 

 liff 's deed. 



Early in April he came on with a number of carpenters, and 

 made the necessary repairs on the house. A new building was 

 erected, the object of which was a secret, and puzzled the brains 

 of the neighbors a good deal. Time, the great revealer, showed 

 it was designed for a dairy. Mr. Lord was not a " free spoken 

 man," and hence few questions were asked him about his affairs, 

 after that trait in his character came to be known. 



The house was in readiness for the family about the first of May, 

 the proper time for moving, and of consequence for commencing 

 farming operations. At least so thought Mr. Lord. He had never 

 moved before the first of May in his life. Mr. Lord's family con- 

 sisted of himself and wife, and two daughters, nearly w^oman 

 grown, and three stout Irish women, and one Irish man, fresh from 

 the bogs. A week or more passed before the boxes, trunks, and 

 bundles, which seemed innumerable to the relatives, were stowed 

 away. Then Mr. Lord looked abroad over the farm, for the pur- 

 pose of commencing agricultural operations. The flats naturally 



